I draw a mean stick person

I have this thing, I really have no artistic talent.  I never learned.  Somewhere from the brain to the hand it all gets lost.  My art teachers LOVED me in school though because I could guide others and use such good descriptions I could make others really "see" what I wanted to get a cross.  Yet another way I skated through my schooling...  Sadly LD has picked up that trait from his father also, I say that because there's just no way he got that from me.  I don't fault him for not digging the whole artsy-fartsy drawing thing.  But I decided since he was in school last week to buy a sketch pad and what I swore on a stack of bibles were supposed to be colored pencils.  They weren't, they were oil pastels.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to use those on sketch paper?  I wanted to show Little Dude that it could be fun, I dragged out a old easel thing we had in the crawl space, once again proving that I can find damn near anything in that place.

Tuesday, I did "Walk in the Park."  it is an abstract of a nameless faceless man walking through a nameless faceless park anywhere and the things he would see along the way.

Next on Thursday, I did "Autumn Leaf Print."  It was to be a textured leaf picture of a blanket of leafs on the ground in the fall.  The leafs didn't exactly work like I had hoped, but the idea was there, and I liked the pallet I had used.

Lastly I drew "Burn" yesterday.  It was first going to be a swirly cloudy sky, but turned into a multi leveled picture with images within the flames.  I blame the song by Collective Soul, "Burn" as it was in my head the whole evening when I did the flames and switched the focus of the paining.  Because it is far easier to blame it on a music group, and their song then come out and say I'm a pyro.  :-)  "Baby want to burn with me?"

So here is what I have been doing the last week of my life.  All my works from here are up on RedBubble.com if you want to see what else I do.  Most of it is photographs, I got into the site because of my good friend Marsha who has AMAZING works there.  Her art is really worth a look!

School is now back in session and my classes are all new and challenging.  Wish me luck.  I will check in when I can.  If I get a TMOT up, it will be later in the evening as I am booked solid from 7PM-8PM tomorrow.  I know woe is me, right?

Ticks Me Off Tuesday- Guest Blogger

I decided after reading the following blog post that I had to convince The Domestication of the (Once) Single Girl to be my guest poster for this weeks TMOT.  She being uber coolio said she would.  Check out her blog if you enjoy this post! 

Dear CVS (The Endless Saga of Trying to Stay Medicated)

I am an insured US citizen who doesn't even like to take Tylenol when I have a headache.

The idea of taking an SSRI on a daily basis was very unnatural to me.

And then I realized that it made me feel...better.

I do not avoid any situations because of panic attacks. It's kind of like making it through being stuck outside in a really bad hailstorm, though. It did not kill you but it was very unpleasant to deal with.

I have valid Rx's that are written out by my Dr who has been practicing medicine since the year of my birth.

Yet this is what I go through when I call to get a refill.

***

Lexapro. The highest number of milli-whatevers that it comes in is 20. My dose is 40. So I am prescribed the 20 dose and I take 2 pills after dinner.

It, apparently, is a very large amount of Lexapro. I am unable to explain how or why this is. Because I am just the crazy girl who is a stay at home mom who blogs about things and likes to eat raw egg noodles.

I very carefully check and re-check that I am indeed taking 2 pills. Every night. I check the bottle, check the pills.

I know that I check and re-check because I have the OCD.

It was only in the past month that my Dr upped me to 40. My insurance denied the claim when I dropped my Rx off at the pharmacy. In the midst of making phone calls to get something called a prior authorization, a few days were wasted and my Rx was running out.

CVS gave me the dosage of medication that my insurance was willing to approve. 45 pills. And to a person on a smaller dosage than I, that would be a months supply. I was told to take my 2 pills daily and that the insurance problem should be straightened out by the time I needed to refill.

Ok. Sounds fine to me.

***

Sunday, I realize that I am running low and try to call in a refill over the very convenient automated line. I'm told that I can't. The computer hangs up on me.

I decided to wait until the following day. I would just call my doctor's office. Make it easy.

The office was closed on Monday. RI is the only state in the union that celebrates VJ day.

Good thing the mail still comes, though. I needed my junk mail. It makes sense for offices to be closed on a holiday when the mail is still delivered.

*Breathe*

***

Tuesday. That's today.

Office open, call is made. I'm told that the policy is to have the pharmacy fax over a request to the doctor's office to refill the prescription.

Fair enough.

This is where it turns ugly.

***

I had just so happened to save the little baggie that the pill bottle comes in. The one with the date and the Rx number, even though I had the bottle. I just...had a feeling that something bad was going to happen.

I always have a feeling that something bad is going to happen. Hence the pill bottle's existence in the first place.

But the importance of the bag was that it explained my dose, explained why I was getting 45 for a month but was taking 2 a day. Written out by a pharmacy employee. In neat red pen.

There I am, armed with information. I call the CVS pharmacy. I get a friendly sounding guy.

I explain that I'm trying to refill my prescription. He tells me that he can help me.

Rx number please?

I read him off the number but it is a little hard to see. It looks like the ink on their printer was at the end of it's rope.

I guess I got a number wrong? I confused him.

I told him that I had the bag that the bottle came in.

He got rude.

He told me that I was not due for a refill. I had been given my 60 pills. I needed to wait until it was time for me to refill my prescription.

I explained the insurance problem. I explained the dosage. I explained that 45 divided by 2 does not equal a 30 day prescription and that my bottle even SAID 45.

But, see, I had misread a number to begin with and that I guess flagged me as a pill-popper. Marked me as someone who was stupid. Signaled me as someone to be rude to.

His tone changed and without even attempting to listen to what I was saying he repeated what he said before. I was given my Rx and it was not time to refill.

I asked if I should call my Dr, would that fix this?

He, again, repeated the same statement as before.

And the words came flying out of my mouth.

'You are not hearing what I am saying. I am not calling you a liar about your screen saying '60'. Give me the courtesy of believing that my bottle says '45' since I am right here looking at it. And yes, I messed a number up. Is that impossible to do? Let's try to move past that. You aren't even listening to me. So how about you stop repeating the same thing over and over and you do what you are paid to do and you find a way to correct this and help me refill my prescription. If you can't do that, if that's beyond the duty of 'Hi my name is Chris and I repeat the same thing over and over', how about you...'

He cut me off.

A pharmacist got on the phone.

***

So the pharmacist had clearly been prepped with the summary of what was happening, coming from the side of me being some irrational Lexapro addict who was trying to pull a scam.

He was calm and polite at first, while I explained everything.

Then he told me that there was no way that my bottle said '45' when the computer says I was given '60'.

I was just...stunned.

I argued with him.

I got nowhere.

I got angry.

I told him that I would be in with my Ripley's Believe it or Not pill bottle in 30 minutes and that he needed to be spending that time figuring out a way to straighten this bullshit out.

***

My mom is a pain in the ass but the lady loves her some drama, so when I called her yelling about breaking off a gladiator sandal in the ass of some pharmacy scumbags in Wakefield, she was all for it.

She came to get me.

Because out of all of the vehicles that we own, only 1 is on the road right now and that is being used by The Bottomless Pit. Don't start on that because it's only going to set me off more.

I checked my bottle. I checked the baggie that it came in. I checked them again and again to make sure that I wasn't crazy. Because I AM crazy. And therefore I must be in the wrong.

Anxiety level? 8? Maybe a 9? Probably an 8.

***

Look at me! I'm Lindsay Lohan!

***

I get to CVS.

I stand in line.

I present the evidence.

The lady that is helping me gets a little bit of an attitude at first.

I guess she's been warned.

And then...

She listens.

She reads my pill bottle. She reads my baggie that the bottle came in.

'Oh no! Your insurance was billed for 60 pills and you were only given 45! We owe you 15 pills!'

That's what I was trying to tell you fucksticks.

I'm scanning the pharmacy for bitchy looking males, but all that I see is the top of a bald head a couple of computers back.

She goes back and talks to whatever face is attached to the disgustingly sweaty bald head.

It's like it's making a point of hiding behind a shelf.

She comes back with the pills.

She hands me the bottle and says 'Have a nice day'.

***

Was I stupid enough to expect those jackasses to come out and apologize?

Actually...

Yeah.

And...

They didn't.

***

I paused for a second, not feeling vindicated enough.

I loudly said 'So? What happened..was this your pharmacy's mistake?!'

The people milling about stop. Ears are perking up.

She says 'Well it could've been the insurance.'

I say 'Oh. I didn't know my insurance company came in here and printed dosage information on your pill bottles. Neat.'

She doesn't say anything.

But I said one last thing.

'The two men that I spoke to on the phone earlier? They were unbelievably rude. So rude. And given that I'm just now getting the rest of my prescription and I had SUCH a hard time...I think they might have a pill-popping problem. I don't think I feel safe getting my medications from here any more. I'll be transferring to Rite Aid. You were very helpful though, so thanks.'

***

I practically yelled 'pill popping' part.

I guess I ought to be careful.

That's how rumors get started.

***

But I had to make sure that the bald guy cowering in the back heard me.

***

And as I walked away people were muttering amongst themselves and checking their pill bottles. My work is done.

Similar troubles? Tell me. I'll be pissed off on your behalf.

*************************************************************************************

CVS you get the Award this week bestowed by not only me but The Domestication of the (Once) Single Girl in my absence:

So, your turn to post your gripe(s) below. It's time to let it all hang out here, I'm WAY cheaper than a shrink. *All non personal pics, from Google Images.*

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

All pictures from Despair.com

Attitudes are contagious. Mine might kill you.

How can the future be so hard to predict when all of my worst fears keep coming true?

The mark of the leader is the ability to make decisions. The mark of the survivor is knowing when not to.

Stelth Shopping-Learn from Past Mistakes

I was told, "Make sure you buy Little Dude's shoe's for gym class this week."  I was not told where to buy or how much to spend. Last year we bought a pair for 30, so I targeted that.  I didn't feel like going to Wal-Mart or our shatty K-Mart.  I have become a Famous Footwear junkie, not because I like shoes, but because you catch a deal there and BOOM!  Great shoes, great prices.  And being a cheap moe-foe frugal shopper both made my ears perk up.  I joined the membership club and when you spend over 200 or 250 bucks you get free shipping to your home, and as they put it "deals thru out the year".  This is good as the closest store is 45 minutes from hillbilly hell.  I quickly spent the needed amount to become a gold member with my 2 pairs of Shape-up's and another Sketcher pair for Weatherman.  The deals as it turns out is about a 20% off coupon every couple months.  We have since bought countless amounts of shoes for all bi-peds within Casa King. Well I went online shopping and bought Little Dude these for school grand total with the BOGO deal AND the 20% off membership coupon...33 bucks with tax, free shipping to my home.

Shoes that look "Just like Dad's" for everyday wear.

AND

Shoes for Gym

All and all I have back-to-school shopping now officially done!  Hip hip HOORAY!  Plus I didn't have the Weatherman peering over my shoulder the whole time I shopped.  I learned from my mistakes last year, don't include him, shop while he is at work.  Love the man, but he really is can be a stick in the mud.  Go team Famous Footwear!